BootsnAll Travel Community

I have looked at every websight that I could find on the subject, but they all paint a different picture to suit there interest and agenda. I am interested in foreign medical study not ONLY for their lax admissions policies(compared to the US and Western Europe), but also for the unique international aspect of the curriculum at some of the better schools.

Does anyone have any info they can share. Anyone ever done this? Know anyone that has? Any ideas? Anything would be greatly appreciated!

this is something related that you might find interesting.. in my international health seminar yesterday, a travel doc came in to talk about 'urban health in the developing world'. he mentioned that after working as a family care physician for several years, he got bored and went to lima, peru for a 'diploma in tropical disease'.. whatever that means. i mean, i don't think it's anything you can really apply towards a professional job here (at least, not on its own). it caters mostly to healthcare workers, but he said that one of the people in his class had a PhD in parasitology. that program in particular involved hours of looking through a microscope at malaria parasites, making rounds at the local hospital to observe, etc.

he told us one story that i found pretty amusing.. once, while they were doing their rounds observing all the procedures and whatever, they came upon one guy with a huge boil on his shoulder. while the doctor was asking him questions, he all of a sudden pulled out a cigarette and lit up. so of course, everyone's thinking.. wtf?? but he blew the cigarette smoke on the boil and all of a sudden a tiny worm popped out adn wiggled around for a second before it crawled back inside. never thought a cigarette could be used as a diagnostic tool eh?

look into the rotary programs at the local uni's. they have local chapters throughout the country and it's all about global health (i think). if you want, i can send you the email to daren wade, the coordinator for the UW's intl health group and the global health resource center. he's a really nice guy and i'm sure he'll help you out and point you in the right direction even if you're not a UW student.

one last thing. i think you should keep in mind that just because you get a license to practice medicine in one country doesn't necessarily mean you'd be able to in another country. i mean, it'd be great if med school admission standards were lower in the states so i could get in (MUCH lower in my case.. LOL!), but.. med school's hard to get in here for a reason. oh and one very last thing.. a lot of med schools offer programs in other countries. in that seminar i mentioned earlier, we had two 4th year med students from nairobi visiting for a couple of months. there's a couple of US-based med students in that class as well, that have studied in other countries as well (especially developing ones).

Thanx for the info Xoom. I have looked into it pretty extensively. Some of those foreign med schools appear to have a VERY strong and challenging curriculum, and arent all that easy to get into either. But any foreign med school worth applying to has to be approved by the State of New York, and then this is pretty much a golden ticket for the rest of the U.S., so I am mos def ruling out any schools that are not approved by NY.

This seems to be the best school that I could find, and they have a heavy focus on tropical medicine. But I think that most of the people accepted to that school did their undergrad studies at UCLA and UCBerkely and other semi-ivy league schools. But if you get into the best school that you can, get a good grade point average, and get plenty of vollunteer and leadership experience, then I would think that anyone would have a shot.

Also most good foreign med schools will only keep you for the first two years and then send you to NYC or London for the last two of clinicals before you get your MD. Sounds good to me.

hey, some of my friends are studying medicine and as far as they informed me, maybe budapest would be a good choice. none of the studies there at the momrent, but most of it is in english and i believe they are pretty good,...plus it's a great city.

Hey GLR,

My brother is in med school in Grenada right now at St. Georges University. He loves it. The curriculum is well run, the profs are great, the students are great, the country is beautiful. He couldn't ask for more. He did his undergrad at University of Toronto which arguably is one of the best universities in Canada for the field that he wants to go into. If you want I can get him to e-mail you or you can ask me any questions which I will gladly relay to him. This is his first year there and so far so good.

GLR: I second the Granada suggestion. Decent medical school. Generally, Americans are liked (although I had some great talks with former soldiers who fought against the US in the invasion whose opinions varied). It is a gorgeous island (or was before hurricanes dismantled it), one of my favorites in that part of the world. Sailing the Grendines north through St. Vincent is one of the great experiences of life!

I studied during the summer in Guadalajara, Mexico, following in my father's footsteps who did two years of medical school down there about 25 years ago. When he went, it was a bit...not excellent, and he eventually transferred back up to University of Chicago, though the experience there was insanely beneficial for him, as he can now do a great deal of pro-bono work for Hispanics in the country. Anywho, while I was down there, I met some students originally from California who were at the university my dad went to, Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, and they were loving it. I'm sure they were from pretty well-respected US schools, and were mainly down in Mexico for the cost benefits. They said the programs were taught really well, and they were also able to get SO Much more experience early on in Mexico than in the States. I'm *pretty sure* the first year or two was taught in English, though i'd look into that.

Anywho, just a suggestion. Mexico gets a bad rap, but Guad is a magical, beautiful, safe, and insanely fun city. Especially if you're planning on returning to the States (ESPECIALLY AZ), I'd look into it.

"So much more experience"

Yes. In the Mexican system, there is no such thing as an intern. There is a doctor, who practices the moment they leave medical school, and then there are 'specialists', who have four years of practice under them.

I imagine they use the medical students as interns in the hospitals.

I am actually looking into UAG in Guadaljara as well as other schools in Spain. I am so excited.